For more than ten years, archaeologists have been trying to decipher the inscription carved on the neck of a broken jug.
The inscription was engraved with usingancient South Arabian script in the Sabaean language, widespread in biblical times on the Arabian Peninsula in the Kingdom of Sheba, in the territory of modern Yemen. According to a statement from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the text on the can reads “ladanum,” a reference to labdanum (Cistus ladanifer), an aromatic plant resin used to make incense. According to research, this inscription is believed to be the oldest known ancient South Arabian script found in Israel.
Archaeologists found a fragment of potteryburied along with parts of six other large jars in 2012 in Ophel, one of the Jerusalem neighborhoods. It dates back to the 10th century BC. Researchers believe its existence proves a "clear connection" with the biblical kingdom of Solomon and the neighboring Sabaean kingdom.
Many centuries ago, the Sabaean kingdom played an importantrole in the cultivation of plants necessary for the production of perfumes and incense. Solomon's kingdom, in turn, controlled the trade routes that crossed the Negev Desert and led to the Mediterranean ports. From there the goods were exported.
“The decoding of the inscription on this jug says noonly about the presence of a Sabaean speaker in Israel during the time of King Solomon, but also about the system of geopolitical relations in our region at that time. Especially considering where the jar was found – the area was also an administrative center during the time of King Solomon,” Daniel Weinstub, an archaeologist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, said in a statement.
“This is further evidence of the extensive trade and cultural ties that existed between Israel under King Solomon and the kingdom of Sabean,” the scientist concludes.
Saba, or Sabaean kingdom (obsolete.Sava) is an ancient state that existed from the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. (between 1200 and 900) to the end of the III century. n. e. in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, in the region of the modern state of Yemen.
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